The Arab Capital of Culture () is an initiative taken by the Arab League under the UNESCO Cultural Capitals Program to promote and celebrate Arab culture and encourage cooperation in the Arab region.
Cultural capitals Year City Participating member 1996 Cairo 1997 Tunis 1998 Sharjah 1999 Beirut 2000 Riyadh 2001 Kuwait City 2002 Amman 2003 Rabat 2004 Sanaa 2005 Khartoum 2006 Muscat 2007Algiers 2008 Damascus 2009 East JerusalemCapitals of Arab Culture - Jerusalem (2009) Jerusalem: Capital of Arab Culture events jeopardized by occupation - Jerusalem was chosen in 2006 2010 Doha 2011 Sirte 2012 ManamaHi-tech amphitheatre 'a beacon of culture' Gulf Daily News 2013 BaghdadIraqi Cultural Week opens Doha Press 2014 Tripolihttp://e.gov.kw/News/KUNAMoreNews_Eng.aspx?NewsId=131146 Kuwait Government Online; News 2015Constantine 2016 Sfax 2017 Luxor 2018 Oujda 2019 Port Sudan 2020 Bethlehem 2021 Irbid 2022 Kuwait City 2023 postponed2024Tripoli2025Kuwait City2026Benghazi
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Notes i. The award for Jerusalem was presented to "Palestine" "The celebration of al-Quds Jerusalem as the 2009 Capital of Arab Culture has been debated ever since the decision was made by the Ministers of Arab Culture in 2006 and accepted by Palestine." East Jerusalem and its old city is considered the capital of Palestine by international law but it was captured in the Six-Day War in 1967 and was designated as a part of the Israeli-occupied territories, Israel has also enacted the Jerusalem Law that declares both West and East Jerusalem as its capital to that effect in a move denounced by the UN Security Council.
References
External links Algiers Arab Capital of Culture 2007 - Official website Damascus Arab Capital of Culture 2008 - Official website Al-Quds Arab Capital of Culture 2009 - Official website East Jerusalem: "Capital of Arab Culture 2009" Manama Arab Capital of Culture 2012 - Official website